


In the Morning

by PenUltimate



Series: It's Not Easy (To Be Me) [1]
Category: X-Men (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-16 06:48:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5818297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PenUltimate/pseuds/PenUltimate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hank is self-conscious. Alex is not putting up with any of his crap.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Morning

When Hank wakes up it’s still early and Alex is nestled into his side, his golden hair a sharp contrast with Hank’s new blue shade. Hank always wakes up early anyway, is naturally an early riser, but lately he’s been rising with the sun.

Alex usually wakes late and is a glutton for sleep. Hank just wants to leave before Alex wakes so that he can get to the lab.

Hank had been able to create a serum to counteract the one that he had made out of Raven’s DNA. Unfortunately, it’s effects are temporary and even though he's still trying, it's difficult to “cure” what he's done to himself. He can control it to some extent, but only if he keeps injecting himself enough to subdue the blue.

He feels like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Like a junkie craving a fix, an escape from this skin.

“Hank?” Alex mutters sleepily, and Hank turns to see bleary eyes, mussed hair and a confused yawn. Hank doesn’t know why he’s still caught by surprise sometimes by how deep Alex’s voice is, especially when he’s hoarse with sleep.

“Uh, I’m just…” Hank mutters, gesturing vaguely towards the lab before retreating towards the door.

He’s self-conscious with Alex seeing him like this. Blue and hairy. A freak. He wants to get out.

Alex seems to have other ideas.

“You never stay in bed,” he mumbles, frowning.

Hank swallows and turns back around, trying to ignore the inviting sight of the sheet slipping down Alex’s chest as he sits up, revealing toned, tanned skin.

He feels uncertain, caught between turning tail and running away (although, he doesn’t actually have a tail, thank God) and staying, sitting, huddling close into Alex’s welcoming arms.

“I don’t mind, y’know. If you don’t take it. The medicine or whatever. Or if you do. Whichever is more comfortable for you is fine. But you definitely don’t have to sneak out of bed every morning, or freak out every time you change in front of me,” Alex says quietly, surprising Hank out of his reverie.

Hank’s stomach twists, as if there’s a contortionist in his abdomen showing off.

“But, it’s… weird. I look…”

 _Like a monster_ , he doesn’t say. But it’s clear that that’s what he means.

Alex sighs.

“Who cares, Hank? Strangers? Assholes? Why do you care about them?”

“It’s not– It’s you. I care about you,” Hank argues, something tight in his chest. He thinks it might be his heart. Worryingly, for a scientist, he can’t tell.

Thankfully, the heart was never something he pretended to understand.

“And you think I care? Because I don’t. I hate waking up alone, every damn day. I hate that you keep running away from me, man. I want you to stay,” Alex informs him wearily, frowning slightly.

Hank feels nauseous, nervous. Confused.

“Why?” he croaks, unable to understand why anyone would ever willingly wake up to the face of a _beast_ every morning.

“Because I fucking love you, asshole. Either way. I don’t give a shit what colour your skin is. I love _all_ of you. Your glasses, your hands. I love that I know how to make you laugh, or fucking growl, and I love that you look constipated every time I cuss. I love the way you hold me, and the way you fuck me, and I love that you make me tomato soup when I’m sick.”

Hank is silent and disbelieving, which Alex seems to take as a sign that he needs to continue to convince him.

“I love the fact that I can’t hurt you when my skin burns because I lose control a little, because your skin is too tough. I know that if I blow a hole in the wall, you’re fast enough to jump out of the way and you know me well enough to calm me down. It makes me feel safe, because I know that you’re safe, Hank. I’m _comfortable_ with you, and I wish that you were comfortable with me, too.”

Alex is giving him the kind of acceptance Hank hadn’t been able to give Raven – hadn’t even been able to give himself.

Hank walks back towards the bed and slides under the covers beside his boyfriend.

“About damn time,” Alex mutters, laying his head on Hank’s chest, fingers tangling in his lapis lazuli hair – _fur? Hank still isn’t sure_ – as he settles against him.

The sun bathes them in light and Hank feels warm and sleepy and contrite – and content.

And comfortable.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I love Hank/Alex. So. Much.


End file.
